Star Wars: The Dark Sun
by Glader96
Summary: Darth Solaris. The Shadowed Light. The Dark Sun. He was a Sith Lord unlike any other whose shadow terrified the armies and leaders of the Galatic Republic when the Galactic Cold Wars turned hot again. Yet more so than his reach was his past enshadowed by mystery; his life as a Jedi youngling and origins before. His tale is full of horrors yet also one chased by light. OC centric.
1. Prologue

Star Wars: Dark Sun

Prologue

3641 BBY, Battle of Corellia

The sky over Coronet City was on fire. Empire and Republic fighters battled for air superiority and on opposing sides of the capital city hovered two looming giant starships, to the east a Valor-class Republic cruiser gleamed in the afternoon light while in the west a Harrower-class dreadnought overshadowed blocks and blocks of the cityscape.

Above Corellia's atmosphere Republic and Empire warships battled for dominance across the system's five planets and many moons, and debris from various ships already destroyed floated in the nothingness of space.

Within the confines of Coronet City, Empire and Republic troops scurried through the streets, trading fire whenever members of the opposing forces met. In the midst of larger, more drawn-out battles powerful Force users clashed; Sith with furious red lightsabers and Jedi with practiced green or blue. Even civilians fought, pro-Republic loyalists vs. pro-Empire separatists.

In the midst of it all one man stood amongst a field of bodies, his black-red lightsaber burning viciously in the setting sun. The man wore dark durasteel armor under a flowing hooded black robe. His hair was black as pitch and fell in waves down his shoulders. His eyes, a pale stormy silver-grey, occasionally flashed a dangerous dark orange, and when they changed, they stood in stark contrast to the man's pale skin. The only feature of the man that betrayed him as not human would be his ears, which were long and pointed, a very out of place feature.

A presence approached the lone Sith. Another robbed figure delicately stepped around the dead dying, tranquility making their way towards the black robbed Sith despite the gore surrounding them.

This new robbed figure was notably female, even under the traditional green armor and brown robes of the Jedi Order. Her pale light blue, almost white skin, coupled with her tendril-like lekku revealed her to be of the twi'lek species. The twi'lek's eyes shinned a crystalline ocean-teal, and a stream of tears streaked down her delicate features.

The twi'lek Jedi was also palming an active lightsaber, hers a shining resplendent purple and hummed in the same pitch as the Sith's.

When she spoke, the Jedi's voice was soft and melodious, and undeniably mournful. "I didn't want to believe it. To accept the truth, but now I must. Varen, please stop this. We don't need to fight; I am not your enemy."

The Jedi's plea washed over the ebon haired young man like a wave and for a moment the darkness in his eyes receded completely, leaving nothing but a pained stormy silver-grey. Then, just as quick as it left, the darkness returned in force, orange burning with passion and emotion cut through the shadows cast by the hood he drew over his head.

"Shiara…" The Sith's voice filled the distance between them. "I'm sorry but I won't stop, not now. We both know this; prepare yourself."

The black-red lightsaber rose, now wielded in two hands, until the hilt was held next to the Sith's head and the blade pointed at the Jedi.

"Protect yourself. Shiara. We aren't children anymore; I will not hold back."

"Why?" The Jedi Shiara sobbed as she flicked a switch on her active weapon, her action causing a second purple beam to spring to life; now one blade hummed on each side of her saber staff.

Tears ran down the beautiful twi'lek's face as she took up a defensive stance. "Why do we have to fight Varen!? You were my first friend as the Temple! You were the one who made me feel happy for the first time after I was forced to join the Order! You are my best friend! Please, we don't need to fight!"

A single tear fell from the Sith's right eye, it's shine catching the woman's attention but before she could say another word Varen dashed forward, his speed greatly enhanced by the Force. The red and purple lightsabers met in a flash of white and for a moment both Force users gazed deeply into each other's eyes before the blades separated.

"I am sorry 'Arya," The Sith apologized one last time. "Peace is a lie, there is only Passion."

"I'm sorry too 'Reny," The Jedi sobbed back. "There is no Emotion, there is Peace."

As the two began chanting, their robes began to flutter around them in a nonexistent wind.

"Through Passion, I gain Strength."

"There is no Ignorance, there is Knowledge."

As the chanting continued dirt, dust and small pieces of debris began to float around the duo preparing for combat.

"Through Strength, I gain Power."

"There is no Passion, there is Serenity."

A burst of Force energy pushed all the dead and dying bodies scattered around them across the battlefield away from the two Force prodigies.

"Through Power, I gain Victory."

"There is no Chaos, there is Harmony."

The area around these two titans of the Force warped; a crashed ISF Interceptor floated up from its grave, the lightsabers of fallen Sith and Jedi lifted from the ground and the air became heavy.

"Through Victory, my Chains are Broken. The Force shall set me Free."

"There is no Death, there is only the Force."

Then the old friends charged each other, their cheeks wet from tears. This would be their last fight, here in the Hell that Corellia had turned into.


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **

**So... I bet many of you might be surprised by this sudden turn of event, but I want to profusely apologize for not updating or uploading anything in a while. My new term has been a doozy, to say the least, and like always I've been having serious sleeping trouble. But recently my obsession when I'm not studying has been focused SWTOR and this idea has been floating through my head for a long time so I decided to get back into the grove of things by staring a new Star Wars fic and release three chapters of it in a row. **

**I have most of my Danmachi fic's next chapter done, I just need to proofread the thing and find a way to end the chapter in a manner that doesn't make me want to tear my hair out.**

**After updating ****IIWTBADIAD, I plan of uploading the next chapter of Dragon Slayer and then continue to work on that one until the aftermath of Ostigar. Then I will finally start on the first chapter of the Dragon Age 2 fic because the timing of events in the two stories coincides at that point. I'm really looking forward to getting to that point because the Hawk I have in mind is shaping out to be a freaking riot and I love it.**

**For my My Hero Academia x Fate fic fans, I feel the need to apologize to yall more so than even to my other readers. I apologize but the next chapter in that fic is going to take a while and to be completely honest it will likely be the fanfiction that I update most rarely as it is the hardest one for me to write.**

**In other news; I have an extensive list of OC characters written up for ASOIAF/Game of Thrones fanfiction I'm thinking of writing. Instead of following anything that is covered in the books or show, I was thinking about having the entire fic based in Valyria before the Doom. The fic would involve a lot of non-canon lore building on my part on how lofe was in the Freehold, but I already have a lot of that written down and now I just need to think up of some more overreaching plot lines to fit into the world. If you like the idea and/or have an idea for a character that you would like to see in the story PM me and let me know.**

**I'm also thinking of doing a story of light-hearted one-shots focused on Hakuno Kishinami and his many Servant from Fate Extra but with a twist, I think a lot of you will like but that I will keep secret for now.**

**Anyway, if you're still reading my Author's Note, thank you for listening to my crazed rambling and I hope you enjoy this Chapter of Star Wars: The Dark Sun.**

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Star Wars: The Dark Sun

Chapter 1: Sith Training - Anger and Passion; The Basics of being Sith

\- 72 Hours After the Sacking of Coruscant –

\- POV: Darth Malgus-

"What!?" The hooded, wide-eyed figure of Darth Malgus snarled at the hologram of his current superior. "You can't be serious my Lord!?"

The glare of Darth Angral returned would have made lesser men cower in fear and had the two of them been speaking in person, Malgus has no doubt that he would have been punished severely for his outburst. Yet not of that mattered to Malgus when compared to the news that the powerful Sith had just shared with him.

"Be silent Malgus." Darth Angral snarled. "The Emperor and the Dark Council has decreed that we shall not destroy Coruscant so that we might use the planet as a bargaining chip to negotiate preferable terms in a treaty with the Republic."

"But my Lord, we are Sith! Our goal is the destruction of the Republic!" Malgus' anger warped the world around him, forcing most of the Imperial Navy Officers doing their duty on the bridge of Malgus' flagship the Valor to their knees. "We are so close to our goal! To our Destiny! With one order from you, we can reduce the heart and soul of the Republic to rubble!"

"I know this Malgus!" Angral shouted back, veins in his forehead pulsing in rage and his right hand clenched in anger. "But the Emperor has declared that this is in the best interests of the Empire, and the Dark Council has tied my hands on the matter. Thusly Coruscant shall survive to see another day. You will do as I command Malgus or you shall face my wroth, am I understood?"

"Yes, my Lord!" Malgus snarled, slamming his armored fist into the holoprojector, deactivating the machine and causing the metal to cave in on itself. Then, with a twirl of his black cloak, the Darth stomped out of the bridge of the Harrower-class dreadnought.

Five minutes later found Malgus in the main training allocated to the Sith population on board the dreadnought. Unsurprisingly a few other Sith were using the room to practice some aspect of combat. What did surprise Darth Malgus, however, was the presence of the Jedi youngling he had abducted in the wake of the attack on the Jedi Temple was also in the room practicing hand-to-hand combat on one of the room's dummies.

'No better time than the present to start…' Malgus smirked under his respirator.

"Boy!" The Darth called out, grabbing the boy's attention. At the sight of Malgus, the boy now known as Auriox Bloodraven, silver-grey eyes shrunk into hate-filled slits. "It's time to begin your training. The rest of you, get out. You may resume using the training room after we finish."

One by one Malgus' fellow Sith filed out of the room, most giving the Darth an annoyed glare but only one necessitated a shock of lightning on Malgus' part to force them to remember their place. With the rest of the Sith gone, Malgus turned his attention back to the glaring child.

"Auriox, my acolyte," Malgus growled. "How are you enjoying your new name and life in the Sith Empire?"

"That is not my name, Sith." The boy snarled like a pack-less wolf in response. "And the only way I'll view myself as a part of your Empire is if I get the opportunity to kill you!"

Despite the insubordination that the former youngling was showing him, Malgus couldn't help but be impressed by the anger and hatred the child was radiating.

"You are mistaken, child. Your name is Auriox and if you won't become Sith then how do you plan on becoming an 'oh-so-serene' Jedi while harboring such anger and hatred? What have you to say to that my naive acolyte?"

Despite the increase in anger and hostility Malgis felt from the acolyte, the boy did not rise to the Darth's insults. Instead, before Malgus' very eyes, the child developed a look of disgust on his face so similar to those on the Dark Council that Malgus was taken completely by surprise.

…And that really brought out Malgus' ire, especially after just being told by his superior that his vision of the future was not to come to fruition this day by order of said Council.

Malgus' anger reached a boiling point. H rose his right hand and the slip of a boy rose in response while clawing at his neck. "When I speak boy, you listen! When I ask you a question, you answer! And when I give you an order, you carry it out without question!"

With a small twitch of his risen hand, the choking acolyte floated towards him until Malgus' fiery orbs stared deep into the young boy's stormy silver-grey eyes.

"Am I understood, Auriox?"

"Y-yes!" Auriox's eyes shone with hatred and rage. "I un-understand!"

Malgus continued to stare into Auriox's eyes just a few moments longer before he dropped the child, giving him a few seconds to cough, catch his breath and rub his throat.

"I am your Master now Auriox. Do you understand?"

"Yes, my Master."

"Good," Malgus murmured. "Very good. I see that you have embraced that second lesson I imparted to you after I had your former youngling clanmates slaughtered like livestock. Your intense hatred and passion shall be a great source of Strength acolyte. Now let us continue to break you from those Jedi teachings, shall we?"

\- 8 Years Later –

POV: Auriox

"Die!" A young sith male, a fellow acolyte of Auriox's, snarled as his practice vibroblade screamed towards the former youngling's head.

Wordlessly Bloodraven dropped to his knees and swept his own matching weapon at his opponent's legs, scoring a hit that caused the young sith to topple to the floor as the practice blade's stun-field stole his balance from him. Following his successful maneuver, Auriox quickly rose to his feet while using his weapon to swat his opponent's blade from his hand and then placed his booted right foot on the younger acolyte's throat. With no other choice, Auriox's opponent was forced to concede defeat.

"I yield." The lesser acolyte growled; his hate-filled yellow eyes glaring into Auriox's seemingly impassive silver-grey orbs.

"That is enough acolyte Auriox." The deep, throaty and slightly synthesized voice of the two acolyte's master growled as the loud thunking of metal boots on metal flooring drew closer towards the two Sith-in-training. "Your power is growing, my star pupil."

Auriox Bloodraven would have rolled his eyes at his master's inability to properly compliment others if he didn't already know that the bald Sith's response to any form of disrespect would be violent, to say the least. Darth Malgus' temper since the aftermath of the Sacking of Coruscant had not gotten any better if anything the semi-peaceful years of the cold war between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic had led to Malgus's temper only getting worse. It was so bad in fact that in the eight years that Auriox had trained under him and watched as Malgus rose in regard amongst the Sith, the Darth had either scared off or been the death of fifteen acolytes and seven Sith apprentices.

"Acolyte," Malgus' burning orange eyes bore into his longest surviving student's impassive silver-grey orbs as he handed the young man his lightsaber. "Your fellow acolyte is a failure, kill him."

Without saying a word Auriox activated the scarlet blade and turned to his kneeling rival. With a hand on the sith's shoulder and a stab to the heart, Auriox turned the number of former acolytes to sixteen.

"Very good Auriox." Darth Malgus' apparent glee at watching yet another of his charges get snuffed out should have disturbed Auriox more, but the former Jedi youngling was honestly used to events like this. The last of Malgus' acolytes knew that his master took a abhorrent amount of joy in the fact that he had managed to fully purge the Jedi teachings from his young charge's mind and that he had turned Auriox into a cold-blooded killer.

"You have surpassed my every expectation acolyte."

For a brief moment, Auriox considered turning the activated crimson blade against its master but one look into Malgus's deranged orange eyes convinced the young man otherwise. He had attempted many such acts of retaliation in the past when his master was of more stable of mind, and each time had only resulted in Auriox getting painful new scars in addition to failure. So, with a barely perceived growl, the least amount of rebellion the acolyte could openly show without punishment, Auriox deactivated the lightsaber and handed it back to his master.

"Very wise acolyte. Very wise indeed." Darth Malgus strapped his weapon back onto his belt and motioned for the youth to follow him, which Auriox did silently. Together the master and student traveled the path leading from the Sith training room to the Valor's hanger. "Your training with me has come to an end acolyte. Today you will leave my tender love and care, and head to the Sith Academy on Korriban to take part in your Sith Trials. Should you survive your time on the homeworld of our Order, and I'm feeling generous, then I will consider taking you as my apprentice afterward."

The Darth and the acolyte stopped walking next to a humming Sith transport, yet it was all Auriox could do not to gawk at what he had just heard. His mind was spinning at the concept of finally being free of his mad teacher's presence. Soundlessly the young man boarded the transport, not seeing but feeling Malgus' unblinking gaze on his back. Then the transport's door closed separating Auriox from his master of eight years and finally took the young man away from the Sith Lord.

The next time they would meet would not be when Auriox became Malgus' apprentice, oh no. In fact, their next meeting wouldn't even be under peaceful circumstances. No, the next time teacher and student would meet one of them would die.


	3. Chapter 2

Star Wars: The Dark Sun

Chapter 2: The First Trial

\- POV: Auriox-

\- 36 Hours Later –

As his Sith transport rocked from entering the atmosphere of one of the most twisted planets in the galaxy Auriox Blood raven flinched, not because of the sudden movement his mode of transport was experiencing, but because the dark aura of Korriban suddenly assaulted his senses all at once. If Darth Malgus felt like a dark spot in a galaxy of grey, then Korriban felt like a font of Dark Side energy that slowly spread and infected everything that encountered it. Now that he knew what the planet felt like the young man could feel its touch on almost everything; a bit of its darkness resided in his former master, some of it was present in the Valor, every Sith he had encountered on Malgus' flagship had been changed by the Darkness of the planet that resided inside them, and even the transport he was riding in had been to this dark place so often that it practically sported an invisible paint job of Korriban's Darkness. The Darkness of the planet just seemed to have that effect; it choked and/or twist all existence on or even near the solar entity. As a matter of fact, Auriox Bloodraven could feel Korriban's Darkness bonding and bolstering his own darkness while trying to rip and tear at the last vestiges of Varen Wing, the one-time Jedi youngling who now only existed in memory and dream/nightmares.

As the ship began its last landing checks and began its final descent, Auriox stood up and made his way to the wall next to the still closed landing ramp. As soon as the ramp was open the young man quickly descended the ramp and began walking towards the nearest source of multiple Dark Side signatures with no regard as to whether the class he was about to interrupt was his or not as even if they weren't the Overseer would be able to point him in the right direction. In his zeal to begin his Trials, to finally ascend from the tedious existence of an acolyte, Auriox even failed to notice the small ship that had brought him to Korriban quickly closed and left the planet as if something was chasing them off-world.

Walking through the grand gates of the Sith Academy the acolyte saw his fellows that would be taking their trials alongside him and the Overseer that would be presiding over their right of passage. The Overseer was a female sith with a truly ostentatious amount of jewelry and gold adorning her lithe frame. Of the twelve other Sith acolytes that stood in a line before the Overseer and that Auriox took his place beside, seven of them were male while the other five female. Nearly every one of the other acolytes was either human or sith; four of human males with the other three being sith, while of the five females three were sith, two were human, and the last one was the only alien of the group; a lethan twi'lek.

All of the acolytes eyes Auriox as he fell in line with them before the Overseer, many of the humans and sith sneering when they took note of the young man's inhuman ears, but before they any could say a word the former student of Darth Malgus released a wave of Dark Side laced with frigid anger that easily compared to the frozen wastelands of Hoth. As this happened the gold-clad Sith Overseer watched her final charge to arrive carefully.

Overseer Trihuan had spent decades dealing with Sith politics, she had witnessed the ends of many of the Overseers that had preceded her and had learned how to spot the signs of an Overseer whose career and life was about to end because of their own ambitions; Sith like Tremel. She also knew when an Overseer's personal views and biases were preventing them from gaining prestige and power in the Empire as a whole like how Harkun was essentially considered near worthless by the Dark Council and the Academy's Headmaster. Because of her years of politicking, she knew that acolyte Bloodraven's tardiness was most likely due to the interference of the young humanoid's former teacher Darth Malgus. Whether the Darth did so to paint a target on the young man's back to kill him or make him stronger through adversity Overseer Trihuan knew not, but when the elf-like human cowed his competition with only a cold wave of Force energy she assumed the later.

Still Trihuan had a duty to perform and, with this special group of acolytes each personally trained by powerful Dark Lords, now more than ever it was important that she continues to do her duty with no preferential treatment as she could practically feel the gazes of the Dark Council watching the progress of this special group of Sith hopefuls. That was, after all Trihuan's true purpose at the Korriban Sith Academy, Where idiots like Tremel and Harkun did their damnedest to undermine the progress of any acolyte they personally did not consider to be worthy to be Sith and were given a mundane overseer's duty at the Academy in response, Trihuan's duty was to, without bias, put special acolytes personally trained by Dark Lords through specialized and especially challenging Sith trials, and in return she was granted special privileges and the political backing of the Academy's mysterious and secretive Headmaster who was actually Darth Ricktus, a member of the Dark Council and Head of the Sphere of Mysteries.

Her work and results were so appreciated by many members of the Dark Council that she was practically untouchable to any Sith besides the Emperor himself, twas a lesson the former Academy Director learned the hard way when he tried to have her exiled from the bastion of Sith learning when she refused to conform to his biases against aliens. Darth Mortis himself had descended from his duties as the head of the Sphere of Laws and Justice just to reinstated Trihuan as a Special overseer and punish the former Director with extreme severity.

'_Time to see if any of these acolytes have what it takes to be a Sith worthy of drawing the attention of the Dark Council._' Trihuan grinned grimly.

"Welcome acolytes to Korriban." The Overseer drawled, hands clasp loosely behind her back. "From this moment until I say otherwise you have begun your Sith Trials. As such, the next time you leave the birthplace of our Order you will be Sith or you will never leave because you will be dead."

Pausing for a moment Trihuan gave the Sith hopefuls a moment to allow that information to sink in before continuing.

"With that said allow me to inform you of your first trial. The tomb of the ancient Sith Lord Ajunta Pall has just been unearthed for the first time since the reign of Darth Revan by the Imperial Reclamation Service, and at my command, it has been left untouched after an IRS scouting team failed to return from the tomb after three weeks of waiting. I was personally able to confirm that the traps and fortifications of the tomb are unlike any seen in millennia and that many dark and powerful relics reside within. Your first Trial is to enter the Tomb of Ajunta Pall, find one such artifact of dark power, and bring it to me. Let it be known that the more powerful the artifact you bring back the bigger advantage over your peers you will receive for your next Sith Trial. That being said, the acolyte that brings me the holocron of Ajunta Pall will receive a very special reward for their efforts. Are there any questions?"

When no acolytes spoke up, Trihuan motioned for the group to proceed with their task with a lazy wave of her hand and turning her back to them, yet before the Sith-in-training could truly begin their race to the Valley of the Dark Lords the Overseer's voice, accompanied by a sudden feeling of intense dread and smell of ozone, stopped them in their tracks.

"One last thing; while I know the other Overseers allow their acolytes to murder each other with impunity when not on Academy grounds but they are not I and thus not your Overseers, and you are not to kill each other without my express permission. Rest assured that if I even suspect one of you of murdering a fellow acolyte, one of your peers in my charge, without my permission then I will not hesitate to kill you in the most painful manner possible for embarrassing me before the attention of the Dark Council. Do not test me. Now you may go."

Without another glance at her charges, the Special Overseer strutted away from the group of trainees who took a moment to glare at each other before turning to continue their trek to the Valley of the Dark Lords only to see the back of Auriox's black-clad form getting smaller as his Force-enhanced sprint carried him farther away from them at an impressive speed. The former student of Darth Malgus had stopped to listen to the Overseer's warning just like his peers but the moment he had understood where her speech was going he had turned his back to his peers and continued his sprint to the Tomb that housed his first Trial. By the time the young elfin young man could feel the hate-filled gazes of his fellows, he had already put a considerable amount of distance between him and them.

The trip to the tomb was a long one but Auriox was well trained and his tutelage under Darth Malgus had left him with a not inconsequential amount of stamina so by the time he arrived at the entrance to the ancient structure he was only had slightly labored breathing. After taking a short moment to settle his breathing Auriox delved into the ancient Tomb of Ajunta Pall without hesitation and began his search for the ancient Dark Lord's holocron.

With no light to be found in the tomb and his natural low-light vision not being sufficient in seeing through the intense darkness, Auriox was forced to generate a constant aura of Sith Lightning around his left and to light his way through the pitch-black halls of the ancient tomb. The solution left much to desire as the ununiform light cast countless quickly flickering and moving shadows that only made the trip through the halls more stressful, but it did have the effect of revealing the decorated walls around him covered with scenes of Sith history carved into them.

Scenes depicting a great single Order of Force users that eventually split peacefully into two separate Orders that espoused different teachings; the original Order that dogmatically followed the Light even when they descended from one that sought Balance and a new Order that allowed free study into the Dark. Following those scenes were others that showed how the Light Order, worried about the number of followers the Dark Order was attracting, broke their own Creed to be Defenders, not Aggressors and attacked the Dark Order. The Dark Order fought valiantly but because of trickery and deception on the Light's side that brought an early Galactic Republic into what should have been a Force User only conflict they were ultimately destroyed but not before the Light's leader, who killed without remorse or a second thought, was slain himself by the Dark's second in command.

Auriox was required to tear his attention away from the next series of wall carvings when he was attacked by what could only be an entire colony of alchemically enhanced Shyracks that tried to swarm him from the high ceiling of the hallway and tear him apart with a tornado of flying talons and fangs. While the flying rodents were bigger and more aggressive than the regular Shyracks that Auriox had encountered during a few of his missions with his former master, they were still exceptionally weak to the acolyte's lightning and died in scores to the Sith Lighting.

Yet after all of the flying pests were dead some sort of Dark Side Trap was activated in the area around Auriox that obscured the hallway in front and behind him after fifteen feet with an unnatural black fog of Dark Side energy that the Force screamed to Auriox was extremely dangerous, and after he was halted from moving forward or back three Sith War Worms burst from the ground beneath him and the walls around him to try and devour him. To combat the new threat the elfin young man was forced to draw his vibroblade and switch to his lesser practiced Ataru combat form to avoid staying in one place and being taken by surprise and killed while still striking back at the Sithspawn. It ended up being a much more difficult battle when compared to the Shyracks but eventually the acolyte became skilled at striking at the chinks in the monster's chitin and by the time he finished slaying the last Worm he had begun blending his Ataru with his Juyo, his best and favored combat form, and into the basis of a powerful new combat form that had serious aggressive potential but was very draining on one's stamina.

To Auriox's pleasure, when the last Sith War Worm fell against the tomb wall dead, the monster's carcass collapsed an unadorned part of the tomb wall that revealed a secret chamber that hid a small number of ancient relics. Of note was a bejeweled Sith Amulet that, from what Auriox could tell from a quick analysis with the Force, wasn't booby-trapped and would allow its wearer to more easily control lesser Sithspawn or nonsentient creatures, an old fashioned parchment tome written in the old sith tongue that was filled to the brim with knowledge on ancient sith magic, and a bejeweled sith War-blade that made cutting through any of the tomb's other protectors much easier though he only did so after he practiced dominating their minds with the assistance of his new amulet.

Past the hidden room Auriox encounter more carved walls, the scenes on these one depicting the life and struggles of the Sith whose tomb the elfin teen was trespassing in. They showed how Ajunta Pall was a member of the Light Order from the previous carvings, and how Pall continued his studies into the Force farther than the Masters of the Order desired. The walls depicted how Pall and his fellow scholars discovered that they could use the Force to alter and even enhance the natural abilities of various lifeforms, and how through these methods Pall and his fellows believed that they could, with time, discover a method to achieve immortality and prevent death for all sentients in the universe but when they shared their beliefs and discoveries with their Order they were shunned and expelled from the Order. More scenes showed how, despite no longer being a part of the Light Order, Pall and his fellow exiles could not research in peace for they knew what had happened to all the other Force users who defied the Light Order, and so they used their newfound powers to create legions of Force and alchemically enhanced creatures in preparation for the Light Order's attack. Yet that was not enough to protect the Exiles, even when their combined knowledge created monstrous beasts that could kill scores of Light Ones, and eventually, the Exiles were defeated and instead of being executed they were exiled again, this time far into the unexplored regions of space.

The Masters of the Light Order had intended for the Exiles to reflect on their action and come back once they accepted the Light again or die in the Unknown Regions. Instead, Ajunta Pall and his eleven remaining Dark siblings thrived. For the twelve Dark Ones eventually found themselves on a world as red as the skin pigment of its native inhabitance; Korriban, the homeworld of the sith and soon to be the birthplace of the Sith Order. While the natives knew of the Dark, they were in awe of the power the Twelve Exiles possessed and soon those powers allowed Pall to personally the native king and claim leadership of the entire planet for himself and the rest of his Dark Ones. Pall's fellow Jen'jidai were named Lords of the Sith and ruled over the sith natives while Ajunta Pall took a higher title for himself that put him above his fellow Lords; Jen'ari, the first Dark Lord of the Sith.

By the end of the mural walls, a deep frown had settled on Auriox's features at the tale portrayed. The young man was no idiot or fool, it was obvious as day that this was the tale of the origin of the Sith Order and while it only showed Pall's interpretation of the events and as thus were biases, the mural did not shine the Jedi Order or the Republic that shielded them in a good light. Combined with the fact that in the memories of Varen the Jedi youngling, the tale that the Jedi told their young that the blame of the schism on the Dark Siders, Auriox couldn't help but feel the frigid anger in his core drop another few degrees below zero.

'_To so heinously deny others the right to practice their own beliefs or research what interests them is appalling. This just shows how the Jedi are as weak as they are hypocritical. If they had allowed the peaceful study of the Dark Side, the Sith Order wouldn't even exist and if they were not so pathetically weak, Malgus wouldn't have had the chance to abduct me and kill Shiara and my friends.'_

With a huff of cold anger, Bloodraven turned away from the mural and continued his exploration of Ajunta Pall's tomb, yet not even a few meters away from the mural's end he encounters another of the tomb's protectors. A pack of five alchemically enhanced albino Tuk'ata (Sith Hounds) that tried to ambush the young man from a series of alcoves that allowed them to leap at him from up high. The Force had warned Auriox of the danger, however, so he was well prepared to repel the sith hounds with a small Force Repulse that slammed them into the tomb walls stunning the beasts. Then, with them confused and disoriented, Auriox had little trouble subjugating their minds and forcing them to loyally serve him with the assistance of his Sith Amulet.

Following the confrontation, Auriox descended into the dark of the tomb with his loyal hounds. Avoiding countless traps and slaying scores of other beasts with their assistance until, finally, the young Sith-in-training arrived before an intricately carved stone door of a great chamber. The doors were truly massive, easily thirty feet tall and half as wide, and they completely dwarfed Auriox. When, after a quick search of the surrounding area failed to reveal a method to open the gate, the near-human concluded that he would have to force open the doors.

Letting the lightning arcing around his hand die, Auriox trusted his newly subjugated Tuk'ata to watch his back as darkness overtook him. With no other distractions, the Bloodraven focused. He focused his breathing and heartbeat. He focused the tension in his muscles and the blood flowing through his veins. He focused on his connection to the Force and the cold-consuming Rage in his heart. Then he cupped his hands together and pushed!

With a groan, the great stone double doors were forced open by an unseen force. The process was slow and loud as the stone doors scraped against the stone floor, and the effort left Auriox panting for breath and dripping sweat but after some time the chamber beyond the doors was laid bare before the explorer's silver-grey eyes and continued traversal.

Bloodraven and his hounds took a dozen steps into the new chamber only to be forced to leap out of the way of something that smashed down onto and cracked the Forced-enriched stone that the small group had been standing on. Along with the thing that was hidden in the dark, two smells assaulted Auriox's nose. The first was a near overpowering stench of rot and decay, and it almost blocked out the second smell, the distinct scent of oil.

Eyes swiveling back and forth searching for the ambusher, Auriox stoically sent out a flick of Sith Lighting towards where the smell of oil wafted from, succeeding in catching the substance aflame. Bright greenish-blue fire roared to life, first in the corner that Auriox had sent his lightning towards but it quickly spread until the entire large brazier that stretched and wrapped around the entire great chamber was alight. And with the abundance of light Auriox was able to see the creature that had died to slay him.

Rotting and stinking of decay, the being that guarded the vault of Ajunta Pall was all fetid flesh and yellow, aged bone. It stood on two double-jointed legs like some great lizard, yet it was no such simple creature. It towered over Auriox being nearly twenty-five feet tall and was bulky enough to devour all life in the Valley of the Dark Lords and still hunger. The beast's decaying face was a mess of rotting flesh, ancient bone, and twisted fangs. Above the monster's gaping maw two sets of three red eyes burning with hatred towards all life gazing down at Auriox, seemingly incensed that any being would have the gall to intrude upon the beast's sacred responsibility. As if responding to the creature's rage four claw-tipped tendrils erupted from the Sithspawn's back and smashed against the stone floor around it sending chunks of rock and debris scattering around the chamber.

With wide eyes, Auriox gazed upon what could only be a Sithspawn Leviathan. A creation of Sith Alchemy the method of which to create had been all but forgotten, but that's terrifying legacy of the damage they are capable of unleashing is still remembered by Sith and Jedi thousands of years later.


	4. Chapter 3

Star Wars: The Dark Sun

Chapter 3: The First Trial Part 2

-POV: Auriox-

_With wide eyes, Auriox gazed upon what could only be a Sithspawn Leviathan. A creation of Sith Alchemy the method of which to create had been all but forgotten, but that's terrifying legacy of the damage they are capable of unleashing is still remembered by Sith and Jedi thousands of years later._

Yet… it was obvious that the monster wasn't at full strength. Not only was it Sithspawn but it was undead Sithspawn that had not been fed or maintained in centuries. It may be one of the most feared monsters Dark Side Alchemy could create but it was currently as weak as it could be without being totally dead.

So, with a feral grin and eyes steeled with resolve, Auriox attacked. With a mental command, the man's mentally dominated Sith Hounds spread out and surrounded the undead monstrosity while letting out a series of growls and howls to distract the beast. At the same time, Auriox ducked behind one of the many stone pillars that surrounded the perimeter of the room and sped around the distracted Sithspawn while using the other pillars as cover.

However, in the time it took the Sith-in-training to reach his destination, one of his new pets was slain when one of the Leviathan's tentacles shot out and crushed it instantly. From behind the monster, Auriox leaped, launching himself up onto the back of the Leviathan and stabbed his warblade into one of the monster's blister traps, sinking the alchemy-enhanced steel deep into the biological crystalline material. The crystalline structure cracked and shattered, covering him with a colorless fluid and sending Auriox flying, careening into a stone pillar that snapped in half and came within feet of crushing the young man's right hand.

The wound the acolyte inflicted on the Leviathan severely injured the Sithspawn, the monster's speed and the glow of its eyes taking a noticeable dip in energy. Yet now the beast was more enraged than ever. One of its tendrils shot forward to wrap around Auriox's form and suck his lifeforce from him, moving slower than before its blister trap was shattered but still too fast for the Sith-in-training to dodge. What saved Auriox's life was one of his Tuk'ata sprinting from around the Leviathan to attack the fleshy extension grasping Auriox with its razor-sharp fangs and claws, pinning the tendril to the floor and savaging blood chunks out of it. This gave Auriox enough time to recover his bearings and roll forward part where his hound was attacking the roaring Sithspawn's fleshy extension, after which the acolyte swung his blade and hacked the tendril in half, leaving one half gushing blood as it waved to and fro while the other half continued to be used as a Tuk'ata play toy.

At this point, the Leviathan had managed to catch one of the other hounds with one of its other tendrils and had proceeded to partially heal itself by absorbing the lesser beast's lifeforce before crushing the empty shell upon the stone floor. At the sight of his packmate being slain, the Alpha of the pack who was easily discernible by shiny black hide accented by a white stripe down his spine and more powerful build howled in pained grief and anger, and at his call, the three remaining Sith Hounds stopped what they were doing and charged the Sithpawn.

The Alpha, with his powerful muscles, latched onto the Leviathan's chest with his claws and began to take large damaging bites from the monstrosities' torso while leaving deep scratches whenever he had to reaffirm his grip. The Tuk'ata that had saved Auriox from having his lifeforce sucked out of him, who was the last female of the pack still alive and who was the fastest of her kin, sped away from her current chew toy and launched herself at one the tendril that had killed her packmate, pinning the appendage to the floor and causing severe damage to it as she mauled it with newfound ferocity. Finally, the last Sith Hound, this one also a male but smaller than his Alpha, after seeing the daring attacks perpetrated by his brethren, proved himself more daring and wild than either by running up the Leviathan's tail to its head and attacking the monster's glowing red eyes; scaring and destroying two on the right side and one on the left before he was forced to launch himself off the Sithspawn to avoid one of the remaining flailing tendrils.

As his Sith Hounds kept the undead Leviathan at bay Auriox was preparing an attack to end the fight. While he had little actual training in the art of Sith Alchemy, as it was not one of the subjects that Darth Malgus had ever studied, he knew enough to understand that most Sithspawn were weak to Sith Lightning, a kind of precautionary measure deliberately bred into the many creatures to ensure that a Sith that made one wouldn't easily be destroyed by their own creations.

…That said, from what Auriox knew, Sith Alchemists of the Empire tended to have some of the highest mortality rates of all Sith. Even with the purposely engineered weakness, the creatures that they worked with or created were just that dangerous that many still managed to slay their creators.

Yet with that knowledge in mind, Auriox focused a huge concentration of Sith Lighting to his hands, more than he had ever channeled in his life, the entire chamber filling with the sound of crackling that sounded similar to the chirping of a thousand birds in response. The light of the flaming brazier being completely overshadowed by the deep blue then purple then yellow light generated by the Force created electricity, the rage and fury of Auriox made manifest.

After a few moments of intense concentration, Auriox shifted his focus from the ball of yellow lighting floating between his palms up to back to the ancient spawn of the Dark Side. With a quick mental command, the Tuk'ata Alpha and female halted their attacks on the Leviathan and disengaged to join their daring kin who was now growling at his pack's great foe behind his new master. The moment the Sith Hounds were out of the way Auriox let loose his Sith Lightning upon the undead Leviathan. Tongues of yellow-purple Dark Side Force Lightning flew from the Bloodraven's fingers and sunk deep into the monstrous Sithspawn, causing the beast to stagger and tremble in pain, its bones glowing from underneath its hide. After a few seconds of exposure, the Leviathan had to close its eyes in pain and soon after its fetid flash began to burn to a crisp wherever the energy made contact.

Soon after, as the acrid stench of burnt flesh filled the chamber, the great creation of Dark Side Alchemy stumbled and collapsed onto its side. Yet still Auriox did not relent and the torrent of lightning continued to assault the beast. The soon-to-be Sith only relented when much of the rotting flesh on the undead Leviathan's head and chest had completely burned off, leaving behind a great malformed skull and a rib cage covered in decaying muscles.

Through the Force, however, despite how much of its flesh had been burnt to cinders, Auriox could tell that the Leviathan was still just barely alive. He knew so because, of the Sithspawn's six hearts, he could sense three of them still beating.

Sighing, the acolyte stalked closer to the monster's skull, being careful not to stray too close to the monster's treacherous maw, and once he was standing next to the beast's cranium, he tightly gripped his warblade and channeled a steady supply of Sith Lightning into the weapon. Slowly and surgically the young Dark Sider stabbed his blade through the Leviathan's skull and into its brain, focusing his yellow Force Lightning crackling along his steel to fry the monster's brain completely.

"Glad that is over…" Auriox sighed again as he turned to take stock of his surviving Sith Hounds only to nearly give himself whiplash as the Force screamed at him of great danger coming from the fully dead Sithspawn. With a roar, the acolyte's arms rocketed out as he molded the Force into a near-impenetrable barrio that instantly buckled but held when a wave of miasma exploded from the deceased Leviathan's guts and washed through the vault chamber like a great black wave. Auriox's shield held initially but the cursed smoke was slowly pushing and eating at the obstacle and by the time thirty seconds had passed Auriox had resorted to calling forth every ounce of pain, anger, and fear within hi soul to continue to power his barrier.

Fortunately for the acolyte, the Sithspawn's body stopped producing miasma a few seconds later and within two minutes after that, the smog had dissipated from the room. However, before the stress could leave Auriox's shoulders, two things caught his attention.

The first drew his attention through the Force, its dark presence singing alluringly to the Darkness within Auriox's soul. There, floating lazily above the Leviathan's corps, was a small red crystalline object that radiated Dark Side energies, and that's design seemed to draw the mystically. The Sith Holocron (though the more accurate description being the Dark Jedi Holocron in this case) of Ajunta Pall was now within his reach and through securing it Auriox would be guaranteed a prize grander than his fellow acolytes.

The second thing that drew Auriox's focus was an animalistic whine; one that resonated with pain and weakness and pleading. Unnerved at what he might see, the Sith-in-training slowly turned his neck to look at the source of the anguished cry. The sight that greeted his eyes made his throat dry and nearly brought bile to his lips. He had succeeded in shielding himself from the Dark Side trap that had been activated when the Leviathan died, but it seemed that he had failed to protect his Tuk'ata from the miasma and now the pack was on the verge of death. The Alpha had tried to shield his remaining packmates from the accursed smog and in doing so the force of the fumes had completely stripped the Sith Hound of its skin, its once nearly full onyx-black flesh now gone and leaving the hound's sinuous muscles bare to the world. While all of the Tuk'ata had been poisoned by the smoke, the second male seemed to have gotten the worst case of poisoning as evident by whenever the beast took a shallow breath a small bit of miasma would escape his maws when he exhaled. As for the female, despite the Alpha's best efforts, she was just as hurt as her kin, though in her case most of the damage had been caused by a flare of corrupt fire washing over her head that had been the result of the smog mixing with the fire in the blazer. And in addition to all their obvious individual injuries, Auriox could also tell that the miasma they had breathed in was attacking their internal organs, slowly killing them from the inside.

Without a second thought, Auriox raced over to his beasts, the Tuk'ata that had loyally and valiantly fought one of the most treacherous Sithspawn ever created. Sliding to a kneeling stop next to them, Auriox focused and channeled the Force. While he could no longer heal like he could when he was a Jedi youngling, one of the first things the young elfin boy had researched on his own while locked in his chambers onboard the _Valor_ was how to use the Dark Side to heal himself and others. It was a skill he had needed to know to survive his time under Malgus' tutelage and now proved its worth again by allowing him to help his hounds.

…Yet it was not enough. With a growl of frustration, Auriox cursed that his power could only stabilize his hounds temporarily. The main problem, the young acolyte noted, was that along with all the ailments the miasma had caused it had also instigated a series of rapid mutations within the pack, ripping them apart from within. It was like the gas contained a weaponized version of pure Dark Side Alchemy designed just to kill others through mutating their bodies.

'_That's it!_' Auriox's gaze snapped back to the precious container of Dark Side knowledge floating ominously a few meters away from him. '_It's just another form of Sith alchemy, albeit a weaponized variant, and if it was caused by Sith Alchemy then Sith Alchemy is the only thing that can stop it!'_

Without wasting a moment Auriox dragged the crystalline device to his hands with the Force and he steeled his mind for what was about to come. Once he felt ready the acolyte focused on the Dark Holocron that now floated above his crossed legs while channeling Dark Side energy into the apparatus, causing various parts of the device to flip, twirl, and click into a new place until the top opened and a hologram of a man hidden by his shadowy cloak revealed himself. Auriox knew better than to speak to the hologram of an ancient Dark Side user with so little time to prepare, instead he focused on the Force signature of the semi-sentient shard of Ajunta Pall that the ancient Dark Jedi had left in the Holocron. Then, using the Force in conjunction with his mental fortitude, he forced the secrets of Dark Side Alchemy from the soul piece.

An uncountable number of images ranging from the gruesome to the downright despicable flashed before Aurioux's eyes as countless years of knowledge was drawn into his mind, all of it stuff that would make a Jedi Master go pale. With the knowledge pilfered and his brain already working to discern what would be useful for the purpose of saving his Tuk'ata, Auriox stopped using the Force on the Holocron and looked to address the hologram of the First Dark Lord of the Sith. However, the shard of the Ajunta Pall just glowered at the acolyte with burning furry before forcing its crystalline housing to close.

"Damn it…"

Auriox couldn't help but sigh as he deposited the Holocron into his satchel, the acolyte knew what Pall's hatred meant. Dark Side Holocrons still retained a shred of their creator's wills and as such if one earns a Holocron's contempt or ire it would likely never heed that fool's call for knowledge ever again. The remnant of Ajunta Pall would never share any of its other secrets with Auriox ever again for the humiliation of having its information plundered.

"Still," Auriox mused out loud as he stood up from his knees to gather up what he would need to save his hounds. "You take the good with the bad. This Holocron might as well be as useful as a paperweight to be now but at least I got from it what I need to deal with my Tuk'ata's affliction."

Stopping before the rapidly decomposing body of the Leviathan, Auriox took a moment to direct his focus and prepare himself for the next steps. Yellow lightning streaked across the skin of his right arm and the sleeve of his dark robes above as he manipulated his right hand into a knife-strike position. Then, after taking a deep breath of (relatively) clean air, Auriox plunged his studded leather-clad right hand straight into the chest of the dead Sithspawn. Deeper and deeper, he dug with his fingers and hand into the rotten meat until his entire right arm and a part of his shoulder was buried in the Dark Side mutated monster. All the while he ignored the burning sensation that was eating at his arm.

Inside the beast Auriox dug and shuffled organs or intestines around until he found what he was searching for. Then, with a sickening squelch, he violently tore what he found from the monster's chest, dropping the flesh to the bloody floor, and then pushing his filth covered arm back into the rotting fiend. Once, twice, and then a third time, Auriox violently but delicately tore a certain piece of the Leviathan from its chest until sitting on the bloody ground by his feet was a small pile of the last three intact hearts of the deceased Leviathan.

At the same time Auriox ignored how the Leviathan's blood had eaten through the right sleeve of his robe and blackened his skin in a manner similar to a burn wound.

"It must be the will of the Force." Auriox mused to himself as he telekinetically floated the three organs and made his way back to his Sith Hounds' side. "That of the Leviathan's six hearts, just enough survived the battle to heal my new companions."

Kneeling once more by his Tuk'ata, the acolyte closed his eyes as he reviewed the information he had taken from Pall's Holocron on Dark Side Alchemy that would help him in his current endeavor while floating a Leviathan heart in front of each hound. Decades of Dark Side knowledge flashed through Auriox's mind, the information he needed he focused on while what he didn't, he disregarded to review another day, yet all of it was beyond the acolyte's ability to comprehend. He knew what was necessary to save his hounds, however, he did not understand what exactly he would be doing to his three Tuk'ata by going through the ritual that would save them.

'_Remember young Auriox,_' a deep, dark voice that the young man hated and that haunted his nightmare echoed in his head. '_Hesitate and die. Your instincts and passions are your greatest assets._'

With an aggravated growl Auriox got to work. Using his mental connection to the Sith Hounds and the Sith Amulet that enhanced that connection, the acolyte forced the three Tuk'ata to open their maws and devour a Leviathan heart each. Within seconds of doing so the concentrated Dark Side energy that resided in the hearts began to rapidly and violently mutate the Tuk'ata, the only difference between these mutations and the ones already wreaking their bodies being that these new cellular changes were not the result of weaponized Dark Side Alchemy. Instead these mutations Auriox could influence and manipulate to a degree with the Force by channeling his will and Dark Side energy into the mutating cells.

Had he formal training in Sith Alchemy or more time to study the information he got from Pall's Holocron more thoroughly, Auriox would have been better able to use the mutating cells to change the three hounds as he desired. But, since he did not have such training, all the Sith-in-training could do was influence the new mutations to combat and/or fix the completely negative mutations caused by the Leviathan's miasma. Using the Force, he would locate areas in the hound's bodies ravaged or being ravaged by negative mutations and then direct the mutating cells under his influence and charge with Dark Side healing to that area.

The process was excruciatingly slow. For nearly an hour Auriox kneeled upon the stone floor of the crypt's vault, waving his hands above the surviving Sith Hounds as he channeled the Dark Side of the Force into their bodies. The three Tuk'ata howled and cried in pain as their forms were altered from the inside out, and many of those changes were far from subtle. For the Alpha the most notable change was how his skin regenerated at a rapid pace only now it was pure snow-white instead of onyx with a white stripe, and that his muscle mass nearly tripled. For the second male the most noticeable change was two overly large fangs that sprouted from the top of his jaw that seemed to have tiny glowing green veins running through them, and his muscle mass increased as well, though not as much as the Alpha's. For the female, her most noticeable change was that her claws grew in length and seemed to constantly change color which soon her entire body did as well, and she gained an increase in muscle similar to the second male's.

But most importantly, despite the changes caused by the amateurish application of Sith Alchemy, the three Sith Hounds survived the procedure. So, while Auriox took a moment to rest after expending so much energy saving their lives, the Tuk'ata began taking their first shaky steps with their newly enhanced bodies. The three shook and stumbled a bit at first but by the time their master was standing again and calling them to his side they were once again moving confidently.

With his three hounds gathered before him, Auriox to a long moment to slowly draw his gaze across the Alchemically altered Tuk'ata. Seemingly pleased with the result of his first foray into Sith Alchemy, the young acolyte slowly took off the amulet that enhanced his ability to control his beasts and spoke clearly to them while altering which hound he was making eye contact with.

"I am the reason you three still yet live. Not only did I spare you when you first turned your fangs and claws against me, but now I have saved you all from agonizing deaths. That means that you three are mine now. It matters not if I wear this amulet or not, I am your master from this day forward and if any of you ever show me anything less than your total loyalty, I will kill all three of you. Am I understood?"

The three Alchemically enhanced Sith Hounds bowed their heads in response to their master's words before howling out their eternal oats of fealty with such vigor that the sound echoed through the tomb of Ajunta Pall.

Then and only then, after checking on Pall's Holocron in his bag along with the amulet, Auriox Bloodraven whistled to his hounds to follow his as he began his trek out of the ancient tomb and back to the Sith Academy. Even slightly exhausted and his entire right arm burned, a small dark smile danced across the young man's face all the way to the Sith Academy. Even after arriving at his class' chamber to find that he was the last to arrive again and while his peers sneered at him, Auriox just continued to smile darkly. For when Auriox dug his burned arm into his satchel and pulled out the Holocron of Ajunta Pall and Overseer Trihuan began to heap praises upon him along with the especial reward, Auriox felt nearly as much elation at the looks of jealousy that his peer's sniggers turned into as he did at the prize itself.

And oh, what a prize he had earned for himself!

* * *

**For anyone who is pulling their hair out at how unrealistic the whole mutation thing went down, please save it. I know it is unrealistic and that isn't how mutations work. I'm just getting creative with the concept.**


End file.
